


Reunions

by Shenandoah76209



Category: Glee
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-04 10:36:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15839502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shenandoah76209/pseuds/Shenandoah76209
Summary: He hadn't decided if he was gonna go to the ten year reunion. And then she walked into the bar. Suddenly the reunion doesn't seem like a bad idea.





	Reunions

Tending bar wasn't exactly how he'd planned to spend his early twenties. But it was marginally better than other ways of making a living. The tips weren't bad, they weren't great but they weren't bad, and the upside of constantly pouring alcohol for others (and watching them make idiots of themselves) was that he had no desire to imbibe and follow their idiotic example.

He'd made it out of Lima, though Cleveland wasn't much better, at least as far as culture was concerned. But it had the Browns and more than twelve hundred people as a population so it was a step up.

The ten year reunion of his graduating class was this week and he still hadn't made up his mind about going. It was bound to be full of his classmates boasting (or lying) about how well they were doing. They'd probably be surprised that he wasn't in jail or dead, but then sometimes so was he. Even more surprising was that Finn was the one who had died.

He'd heard about it but hadn't been able to make it to the funeral, being deployed to Iraq had the tendency to curtail communication. He'd sent a card to Mrs. Hudson-Hummel and received a very kind note of thanks in return.

"Hey, Puckerman, you're up," Jake was a decent boss, though he had the tendency to forget everybody's first name, and occasionally their last. And he was adamant that everyone who worked there had to take a turn on stage. He didn't care if they juggled, sang, danced or recited limericks. Singing was preferred though one of the waitresses was a comedienne and regularly used her required time on stage to work on new material.

Carrying his guitar on stage he took a seat and began to tune it, grinning at Amanda, the only one who didn't perform. She was too busy running the karaoke machine.

Frowning down at the guitar he thought back to the other night when he'd woken up to the phone ringing. It had been a wrong number, but he'd stayed in the living room of the apartment until morning. It wasn't his place, it belonged to the girl he'd been seeing. The girl he'd tried his hardest to love more than a little. And couldn't.

He'd done his best, tried to be as kind as he could. She hadn't been understanding, or kind, in her reaction but he guessed he'd deserved it. He'd spent the better part of the last ten years trying to forget or otherwise get over, the girl he'd never even had. And waking up to a wrong number, praying somehow that it had been her calling, well that was a rude awaking in more than one way.

Finally he looked up and blinked in shock but another look confirmed that he'd seen who he thought he'd seen. And the song he'd perform was easily chosen.

"Hey out there... this is for the girl...well The Girl. The one I've always loved, and always missed, and never got over." He smiled into the darkened club and began to pluck the cords out on the guitar.

" _Honey why you calling me so late?_  
_It's kinda hard to talk right now._  
_Honey why are you crying? Is everything okay?_  
_I gotta whisper 'cause I can't be too loud_

_Well, my girl's in the next room_  
_Sometimes I wish she was you_  
_I guess we never really moved on_  
_It's really good to hear your voice saying my name_  
_It sounds so sweet_  
_Coming from the lips of an angel_  
_Hearing those words it makes me weak_

_And I never wanna say goodbye_  
_But girl you make it hard to be faithful_  
_With the lips of an angel..._ "

It was hard to see her face past the stage lights but she'd taken a seat at the bar and her eyes hadn't moved from him once. And it was easier than usual to put everything he had into the music, into the words, knowing that she'd hear them.

" _It's funny that you're calling me tonight_  
_And, yes, I've dreamt of you too_  
_And does he know you're talking to me_  
_Will it start a fight_  
_No I don't think she has a clue_

_Well my girl's in the next room_  
_Sometimes I wish she was you_  
_I guess we never really moved on_  
_It's really good to hear your voice saying my name_  
_It sounds so sweet_  
_Coming from the lips of an angel_  
_Hearing those words it makes me weak_

_And I never wanna say goodbye_  
_But girl you make it hard to be faithful_  
_With the lips of an angel_

_It's really good to hear your voice saying my name_  
_It sounds so sweet_  
_Coming from the lips of an angel_  
_Hearing those words it makes me weak_

_And I never wanna say goodbye_  
_But girl you make it hard to be faithful_  
_With the lips of an angel_

_And I never wanna say goodbye_  
_But girl you make it hard to be faithful_  
_With the lips of an angel..._ "

He half smiled as he finished, everything he'd ever wanted to tell her filling his voice as he sang the last words of the song.

" _Honey why you calling me so late?_ "

He practically leapt off the stage but by the time he got to the bar where she'd been sitting she wasn't there. She was talking to Amanda and climbing onto the stage, taking off her coat and throwing it over the top of the old upright piano. He had to remember to shut his mouth or his tongue would have rolled right out like an old cartoon. Hell he felt like howling at the sight of her. Boots up to her thighs, a tiny band aide of a skirt and a top made out of lace that wrapped around her tiny waist and outstanding breasts, showing off all that gorgeous skin. Even her hair was perfect, falling down her back and curling at the ends, everything he'd loved about her in high school.

The music that started playing wasn't exactly new, but it wasn't Broadway either. He guessed she'd embraced Lady Gaga after she got to New York.

Then she sat on that stool and bent forward, staring right at him, and began to sing.

" _It's been a long time since I came around_  
_Been a long time but I'm back in town_  
_This time I'm not leaving without you_  
_You taste like whiskey when you kiss me, oh_  
_I'd give anything again to be your baby doll_  
_This time I'm not leaving without you_

_You said sit back down where you belong_  
_In the corner of my bar with your high heels on_  
_Sit back down on the couch where we_  
_Made love the first time and you said to me this_

_Something, something about this place_  
_Something 'bout lonely nights and my lipstick on your face_  
_Something, something about my cool Ohio guy_  
_Yeah something about, baby, you and I,_ "

Everything about her was a challenge and a reminder. The gorgeous voice, made for solos and Streisand, growling out Gaga and laden with memories and desires.

" _It's been ten years since I let you go,_  
_I couldn't listen to a joke or rock 'n roll_  
_Muscle cars drove a truck right through my heart_  
_On my birthday you sang me a heart of gold_  
_With a guitar humming and no clothes_  
_This time I'm not leaving without you_  
_Ooh-oh ooh-oh_

_Sit back down where you belong_  
_In the corner of my bar with your high heels on_  
_Sit back down on the couch where we_  
_Made love the first time and you said to me this_

_Something, something about this place_  
_Something 'bout lonely nights and my lipstick on your face_  
_Something, something about my cool Ohio guy_  
_Yeah something about, baby, you and I,_ "

Then, God help him, she started dancing, belting out the lyrics and gyrating, thighs spreading and closing again like a taunt as she strutted across the stage. Demanding, snarling at him, and he'd obey every damn time.

 " _You and I_

_You, you and I_

_You, you and I_  
_You, you and I, I_  
_You and I_  
_You, you and I_  
_Oh yeah!_  
_I'd rather die_  
_Without you and I_

_C'mon!_  
_Put your drinks up!_

_We got a whole lot of money, but we still pay rent_  
_'Cause you can't buy a house in Heaven_  
_There's only three men that I'm a serve my whole life_  
_It's my daddy and Ohio and Jesus Christ_

_Something, something about the chase_  
_Ten whole years_  
_I'm a New York woman, born to run you down_  
_So have my lipstick all over your face_  
_Something, something about just knowing when it's right_  
_So put your drinks up for Ohio_  
_For Ohio, Ohio, I love you_

_You and I_  
_You, you and I_  
_Baby, I rather die!_  
_Without you and I_

_You and I_  
_You, you and I_  
_Ohio, I rather die_  
_Without you and I..._ "

She sank back down onto the performers stool and stared at him, her voice a croon, sweet and loving, and it was all he could do to keep his place behind the bar. There was a promise in her voice and he was ready to make sure she kept it.

" _It's been a long time since I came around_  
_Been a long time but I'm back in town_  
_This time I'm not leaving without you._ "

The applause when the music stopped was thunderous and she grinned, putting the mike down like a lady and grabbing her coat before coming down from the stage and towards the bar. It seemed like everyone in the bar wanted to tell her how great she was but she'd learned how to handle a crowd in the ten years since he'd seen her and she kept moving, handling the praise with smiles and thanks and a swift pace.

He grabbed a bottle of water and handed it to her. "Sorry, it's cold. Know you like it lukewarm."

"Honestly Noah, its fine," She waved off her preferences with the ease of someone who'd learned the hard way that you can't always get what you want. "I heard you were working here. Didn't expect to hear you sing."

"Didn't expect to see you." He took a breath and put his guitar back in its case, something he'd forgotten to do, caught up in hearing and seeing her after so long. "Headed to Lima for the reunion?"

Her shrug was elegant, easy, but her eyes were those same dark worried pools of chocolate when she met his. "I hadn't decided yet." She looked at him, her brown eyes moving over him, almost as if she was as hungry for the sight of him as he was for her. "Are you going?"

"I am as yet undeclared," Puck admitted. "Wasn't sure if it'd be worth losing time at work, study time, and driving out there. Figured it'd be a lot of people talking about how great their lives are, either lyin' or bragging."

She nodded her understanding. "I can understand that."

"What about you? Why're you in Ohio if you're not goin'?" Puck carefully built a Guinness for the patron at the end of the bar and served it before coming back for her answer.

"I was going because I wanted to see you Noah." Her honest answer felt like a fist to the throat and he nearly stumbled back just out of sheer surprise. She'd learned the value of plain facts while she'd been gone. There'd been a time she would have played coy, drawn out the melodrama of the moment, and tortured him with it. "I called my dads and they said they'd heard from your mom that you were working here, so I booked my flight through the airport here instead of Columbus."

"Why?" He knew why he wanted to see her. It was why he'd followed her career, bought every album of each musical she was in, took shit from the guys in his unit about his obsession with her. Following a Broadway actress was a hobby Marines found to be fairly ridiculous, until he told them he'd dated her for a week in high school.

"Because when I heard you'd joined the Marines I was terrified. And you got deployed to Iraq. And then to Afghanistan and Pakistan and... then your mom told my dads that you got hurt and..." She was talking a mile a minute the way she always had and he couldn't help but grin at the familiar sound even as she kept speaking. "And I had no way to get in touch with you or tell you how worried I was or even that I--" She stopped and glared at him. "What are you smirking at me for Noah Puckerman?"

"Make a deal with you," Puck smiled slightly. "I'll go to the reunion with you, if you come with as my date. We can stay the whole time. You can even put me in a suit. I've still got the right to wear my dress whites. But it's a date. And I get your number."

"You've got a deal Noah Abram Puckerman." She smiled up at him. "Your mother wouldn't say, where were you hurt?"

"Took shrapnel from an IED, on my side, my right leg, my knee. Tore me up some, wrecked the muscles in my knee... but I got therapy, re-upped..." He shrugged. "Just finished my tour a couple months back. Jake lets me work here when I'm on leave or between tours. Its decent money and the music's usually good. And I like performing."

"Your mom said you were going to school?" Those brown eyes were soft and sweet as they looked over him.

"Yeah, been studying for the entrance exams. Guys in my squad, they're pretty supportive. I'm gonna miss 'em but it's time I did something with my life besides wear flack jackets and combat boots." Puck grinned, "It's the algebra that kills me. But I don't wanna take remedial classes y'know?"

She nodded and put her hand over his, delicate fingers touching the scars on the back of his knuckles. "I guess I ought to tell you Noah. That I'm single. The tabloids love to match me up with my male leads but I haven't fallen for a leading man since you took yourself off stage."

He couldn't help smiling. "Yeah? I'm single too. Was seeing someone but...never could make it get serious enough. Never wanted to." He touched a lock of her hair, following the line of it down to the curling ends. "Guess my heart already belonged to someone else."

Her smile was like the sun, blinding and bright and perfect. "Seems like we've just been waiting then. For the right time, and the right person."

He leaned forward, and when he finally, after ten years, got to kiss Rachel Barbra Berry, it was even better than it had been the last time.

* * *

 

As reunions went it was fine. Sad in some ways as he saw people he'd been sure would get out of Lima succumb to lowered expectations and take jobs that paid bills and rent and let them have ordinary lives. Artie came even though he'd graduated a year after them, and Mike Chang showed up with Tina. They'd reconnected after she graduated and now they were Doctor and Mr. Chang. Mike was teaching in Chicago and Tina was interning at a teaching hospital there. They both looked tired but happy to see the rest of the Glee club.

He and Rachel stood in the shadows by the door and watched Quinn and her date, Santana and her girlfriend, Sam, Brittany and the rest of the Gleeks file into the hall the committee had rented for the occasion. It was at the country club of all places, where he and Rachel hadn't ever been invited. Their parents hadn't exactly been the country club type. Gay, Jewish and poor, or some combination of the above did not get invited to the club.

When the committee members left their stations by the name tag table, the two of them walked up and found their name tags, complete with photos from senior year. It was surprisingly easy to walk in unnoticed. Everyone was talking, catching up, and not paying any attention to the door since 'everyone who was anyone' was already there.

The popular kids were all college graduates, most of them from Ohio state schools. Funny enough, most of them had come back to Lima to live, working in nearby towns, or at their parents businesses. They'd sunk right back into their niches. Popular, simple, normal lives just like their parents had.

It was funny, the Gleeks had all gathered around one table, most of them staying there, catching up with the people who actually mattered to them. Now and then an ex Cheerio or ball player would come up to say hello to Santana, Quinn or Brittany, or express surprise at seeing Mike.

It was actually a little amusing to see Blaine and Kurt arm in arm and vehemently defending Rachel to a bored looking Quinn and her equally contemptuous date. "If she's not here it's because she's working. Rachel actually has a career."

"I actually was hoping that Puck would show," Mike offered his opinion, playing peacemaker as always. "Ran into his sister at the store and she said that he's not on tour right now."

"On tour?" Quinn's voice was disdainful as only she could be. "What is he, a roadie for some garage band?"

"No," Rachel stepped up to them, forcing Quinn to turn awkwardly in her seat to see them. "Noah's a Marine."

"Sir." Someone Puck hadn't even noticed snapped to attention.

"Don't call me sir corporal, I work for a living," Puck nodded to the man he finally recognized as Matt. "Good to see you though man."

"Good to see you too Puckerman." Matt shook his hand with a grin. "How'd you make sergeant in ten years?"

"Oh, getting my ass shot off and dragging my squad along with me." Puck shrugged. "Only got the stripes in my last year. My LT keeps telling me it's out of pity." He grinned at Rachel; pretty sure she hadn't really understood the nuances of his uniform.

"I'm sure you earned your rank Noah, you do tend to excel at everything you do." She told him in that prim little voice that made his dress whites feel even tighter.

"Where you been?" Sam grinned at him and stepped up to shake his hand, bowing dramatically over Rachel's fingers.

"Rachel's been in New York, I've been at Pendleton and then Iraq, with side trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan. And a few little jaunts into Saudi." Puck grimaced. "Mountains are a bitch but those desert winters are a nightmare man. The damn flies follow your food into your mouth."

Quinn looked extremely displeased to see the both of them, probably hoping she could reclaim her queen bee status as a Yale graduate. The rest of the club was pretty happy to reconnect and ecstatic to hear they were both doing well. The rest of the Cheerios gave him the up and down eye and Puck happily pulled Rachel into his lap to make his point that he was taken.

Brittany was all smiles, completely ignoring the fact that she and half the other Gleeks shouldn't be there, talking about something so insanely over his head it should have had wings. Santana introduced her girlfriend as Sage, and said they'd met at school. Sage was an architect, and Santana had an engineering degree. Or as Santanta put it, 'Sage designs the buildings and then I work to make sure they stay up'.

The best part of the evening was when Coach Beiste came by and hugged him and told him how proud he was that Puck had done something with his life. It had been great to see his Coach, regardless of gender, since besides Rachel, Coach had been the only one to really believe in him and go to bat for him. If he hadn't retaken that history test he would have ended up a pool boy in California.

He was laughing with Mike and Matt over some of the dumb moves Finn had pulled, Rachel still in his lap and leaning back against his chest, a comfortable weight across his thighs when the spotlight came on and hit the stage.

The reunion committee leader was standing there, a Cheerio whose name Puck couldn't remember, perky smile fixed permanently in place. "Now they're gonna yap about how much everyone has changed and stayed the same and we're all gonna have to listen to the glory days."

Rachel's voice was dry as a bone, "Well those were the best days of their lives. Back when everything was in front of them and life was perfect."

"Oh yeah," Tina rolled her eyes. "Slushies du jour, rampant prejudice and blatant stupidity"

"Let's not forget a complete intolerance of anything that wasn't sports related." Artie chimed in with a laugh.

"Well times have changed," Kurt smiled. "McKinley is a performing arts school now. It only took a few more years."

"Hey guys," A gruff but quiet voice spoke from behind them.

"Karofsky?" Puck looked over his shoulder and smiled easily. "How ya doin' man?" He remembered Dave and how twisted up the kid had been during their senior year. And how intolerant most of the school had been of anything breaking out of their safe mold.

"I'm...good." The red head blushed a bit under their stares. "I just wanted to stop by and say thanks. None of you ever... well. You could have given me a lot of shit but you didn't."

"Woulda been stupid to make fun of you for bein' different when that was pretty much why everybody hated us." Puck offered and Rachel used her toes to push a chair out towards the former lineman.

"Sit down David, tell us what you've been doing with yourself. My dad said you went to college in Illinois?" The Broadway star smiled and the lineman actually smiled back.

"Yeah..." He ignored the chatter from the stage and filled them in on what he was doing. He'd actually found he had a talent for teaching and was working on his masters degree in history and economics.

"You seeing anyone David?" Quinn asked the question with a not so nice smile on her face.

Everyone stiffened but Karofsky just smiled and nodded. "Yeah, real nice guy. His name's Mark. He's a software engineer. Really into Rachel's music." He grinned at Rachel. "Don't suppose I could get your autograph?"

"I'll send you guys tickets for any show you want to see when you come to New York." Rachel promised. "Text me your address and I'll send you guys some stuff. My agent keeps bunches for junkets and things and I can make up a package and autograph it for you."

"Hey, I want in on that action," Santana protested and Artie, Mike and Tina added in their pleas while Brittany and Sam just gave Rachel puppy eyes.

"When we get to New York I'll make sure she sends you guys all the memorabilia you could want." Puck chuckled as he kissed Rachel's temple.

When they all stared at the casual statement Puck shrugged. "I'm a month away from being officially honorably discharged, I'm goin' to school. Rachel's in New York so that's where I'm gonna be."

"When did you two..." Quinn wasn't pleased and damned if Puck could figure out why. She was practically glued to the guy she'd brought, and she'd never given him the time of day after sophomore year. He was next to nothing to her.

"Please." Kurt scoffed. "My mom says he and Rachel have been dancing around this for years."

"And my mom says that the only thing stopping them was geography." Brittany added.

"We got in touch with each other and decided that we'd come to the reunion together, or we wouldn't come at all." Puck shrugged and smiled down at Rachel who was simply beaming up at him. "Damned if she didn't shock the hell out of me though. Sang Gaga to me at the bar."

"Gaga?" Kurt stared at Rachel. "Well someone has...evolved."

Rachel shrugged elegantly. "The song seemed appropriate, and I can appreciate her music. A steady diet of show tunes tends to stifle creativity and I haven't stopped writing music after all."

The Cheerio on stage finally came to some sort of point and there was some semi enthusiastic applause, then the spotlight started bobbing around the room, calling people out on what they were most proud of, what they'd accomplished, where they lived. It was a ridiculous mess and would have been highly embarrassing if Puck hadn't joined the military. Of course, he probably wouldn't have shown up to the reunion if he hadn't gotten his life straightened out.

"Hey remember when Coach Sue split us all up and we had to meet in secret so we could sing together?" He asked Artie.

"That was a blast." Artie agreed. "Or when Rachel got up and sang 'Gives You Hell'? That rocked."

"How about when she got up to sing 'The Climb' and her voice gave out?" Quinn put in with a mean little smile.

"Or when we all got hyped up on caffeine so we could compete boys against girls?" Rachel ignored Quinn's jab. "We were still good though."

"Whenever I think about school, that's what I miss," Puck admitted. "Not the bitching and competitions, but all of us singing together. Do any of you still? Besides Rachel I mean?"

"Blaine and I do." Kurt nodded.

"Whenever we get the time," Tina nodded and Mike grinned his agreement.

"Dance competitions are my guilty pleasure," he said with a blush.

"No time these days," Quinn shrugged.

"I still do karaoke now and then," Santana admitted. "And I sing around the house a lot."

"How about you man?" Dave asked curiously. "I remember you havin' some good pipes. You still sing?"

"All the time," Puck grinned. "Never go into the field without my guitar. Have to keep it at base but still. Keeps my guys entertained. Even get 'em to sing." He chuckled, "Started to teach 'em how to read music and sing harmony just to shut 'em up sometimes. They bitch about damn near everything."

"I miss singing with all of you," Rachel admitted quietly. "Being part of something special makes you special. And we were all... we were good together."

The Cheerio's grating voice was saying their names and the spotlight was on their table, "And let's hear from the Glee Club. What is it that all of you are proud of? What are your accomplishments? Have all your dreams come true?"

Rachel laughed and looked around the table. "Should we show them?"

"What've you got in your back pocket Rachel?" Sam grinned back at her.

"How about something from our time at school? We wrote originals remember? Nobody here ever heard or saw us sing." Rachel looked at all of them.

Mercedes finally came bustling up to them, all braids and teeth and attitude. "Oh my god. I'm so late. I'm so glad to see all of you!" She practically picked Rachel up out of Puck's lap and kissed her cheek before setting her down again and taking an empty chair from another table pulling it up. "So what are we talking about?"

"What we're gonna sing to show these idiots what we're really proud of. But none of us can remember the words to the original songs besides Rachel." Sam admitted with a shared look of chagrin.

"So pick something else." Mercedes was nothing if not practical. "Why not one of our older numbers? Somebody To Love. Or Can't Always Get What You Want?"

"Who'll sing lead?" Kurt asked the practical question. "Blaine doesn't know the part like he would one of the Warbler songs."

"Puck can sing lead," Mercedes shrugged that question off. "He's got the range and lord knows he's got the nerve."

Puck looked down at Rachel and grinned at her. "You an' me babe. You ready for this?"

"When am I not ready for a performance, and with my favorite partner, this'll be easy." She smirked at him.

"Well? New Directions are you going to speak or should we just assume that no one has done anything noteworthy since graduating from McKinley?" The Cheerio's taunting voice washed over them and Rachel practically launched herself off his lap.

"What Ms Petrofski has overlooked is that we have two decorated Marines, a doctor, several professors and other alumni who have distinguished themselves in their chosen fields. Teachers, artists and engineers." She said passionately, standing in front of the group as she had countless times before. "And we would like to show all of you what we are the most proud of. What changed McKinley and put us on the map as a school worth noting."

"Oh yeah, and Rachel is doin' pretty damn well on Broadway. That's in New York just in case you weren't sure." Puck stood in his dress whites and glared impartially at the rest of their graduating class.

The New Directions assembled around them, a quick unanimous decision had them quickly arranged for the best sound as none of them recalled the choreography. Puck grinned and took Rachel's hand in his before taking a deep breath. "Give us the note baby."

Rachel's perfect pitch came in handy as she breathed out the right note for them to start on and Puck nodded, breathing in again and this time, letting his voice ring out over the hall.

" _Can... anybody, find me... Somebody...to...love..._ "

* * *

 

He had never been this nervous in his life. Not even getting out of Juvie and going back to school to face all the people who knew what he'd done. But moving to New York, knowing it meant being with Rachel, living with her.

The last of his boxes and his duffle bag were sitting in the living room/dining room of her apartment and he was looking around like he needed to go get one more thing when Rachel hugged him tightly around the waist.

"I'm so glad you're here. I know I shouldn't be so... so... excited. But I am." Rachel's happy smile faded as she looked at his face and saw his nervous tense expression. "What's wrong?"

"I... shit." He had to get this out. He had to know. If it was going to matter he needed to know now, before he got too wrapped up. He started to take off his shirt. "You haven't ever had to see. It's always been night... or you weren't paying attention and... I don't look the same as I did in high school Rachel."

The look on her face suggested she doubted his intelligence. "Noah, it might have been dark, and I might not have been able to see much. But I can feel perfectly well." Her hand stroked from his shoulderblade down his back to his flank and the front of his thigh. "I know where your scars are. I know they must have hurt like hell and how hard you fought to come back from your injuries so you could rejoin your unit."

Her kiss to the scars over his ribs was like a blessing and he finally let himself relax, kneeling in front of her. "Sorry baby. I guess I was just..."

"Convinced that I'd reject you for some stupid reason because that's what everyone else has done to you?" Rachel knelt with him, straddling his thighs. "Noah, I've loved you for a long time. And the only reason I didn't do anything about it in high school was I was still getting my life in order and my brain... well straightened out. I wasn't in a healthy place when I graduated. I wouldn't have been good for you. We needed to have separate lives for a while in order to be good together."

"Yeah." He nodded. "You're right. Trust still doesn't come easy for me baby. But I know I can trust you."

"It might take us some time, but we'll learn. This is our new start, our life together. We deserve to give ourselves this chance." Rachel kissed his chest and the tattoo that adorned his bicep. "How did you get this past the rabbi?"

"Told him that everyone in my unit was getting one and that I needed to show my loyalty to them. My loyalty to God wasn't ever in doubt." Puck chuckled. "He told me that he'd put in a good word for me with God since I was serving my country which gave us freedom of religion."

That got her laughing and when he scooped her up to take her to bed, she laughed even more. When he dropped her on the mattress and kissed her, her laughs turned to moans and sounded even sweeter.

* * *

 

The Grammies were nuts, the Tony Awards were madness and the Oscars were just insane. Golden Globes at least you got to eat something and the SAG awards were similar. They got to see Mercedes at the Grammies. Artie was at the Oscars and Kurt and Blaine were at the Tony Awards. The press junkets weren't too bad since most of the talk shows were either in New York or Los Angeles. But the questions were repetitive and stupid.

Puck looked at his watch and paced. "We're gonna be late," he called towards the bedroom. "You said it starts at seven thirty."

"I know." Rachel came hurrying in, wrapping her belt around her waist as she grabbed her bag. "I said that so we'd be on time. It starts at eight."

"Lyin' to yourself again?" He couldn't help laughing as he wrapped his arm around her. "But at least we'll be on time then."

"This is too important to miss." Rachel looked up at him. "I can't believe its actually happening."

"Yeah, me neither." Puck looked at the pictures on the mantel and took a deep breath. "Here we go."

It was nerve wracking. And it was exhilarating. Rachel clutched at his hand until he was sure his fingers were numb. And then it was over.

"Daddy! Mom! Did you see me? Was it good? Did you like it?" He scooped his daughter and grinned at his son, both of the shouting and talking at once.

"You guys were great. We loved it." He assured them. "Your mother was practically in tears you guys were so good."

He grinned at Rachel over their heads and felt the same pressure in his chest that he had all those years ago. They might have taken a while but they got where they needed to go. This was their time, and they were with the right person.


End file.
